Chapter 161 – Where is Korea?

“Norman, Norman!”

Norman Stevens frowned as he looked at the rookie who came out of the portal and was making a fuss.

“Charlie, why are you making such a commotion as soon as you come out… D-don’t tell me?”

Norman thought there was only one reason why he would be so excited.

“Did you break through the wall of the 9-90th floor?”

Did he surpass Justin Walker’s 89th floor and reach the 90th floor?

If that were the case, Charlie’s value would skyrocket beyond measure.

The Overlord Guild might offer thousands of billions in contract fees to keep Charlie.

If that happened, Charlie would no longer be just a rookie.

‘A promising hunter who succeeds Justin Walker!’

That would become Charlie’s title.

But Norman’s imagination remained just that—imagination.

Charlie immediately denied it.

“The 90th floor? Even the 60th floor was difficult!”

“What? Then how many floors did you clear?”

“5-58th floor.”

Hearing that, Norman’s eyebrows curved.

Wasn’t that lower than his own past record?

‘And I only have an A-grade characteristic.’

They say the greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment.

Norman, who had expected him to clear at least the 70th floor, let out a deep sigh.

“Then why are you making such a fuss?”

“Ah, big news! There’s big news!”

“Big news? You having an S-grade characteristic and not even clearing the 60th floor—that’s the big news, man.”

“Norman!”

As Charlie’s face turned red, Norman waved his hand, saying it was just a joke.

“So what’s the big news?”

“The first place has changed.”

“Huh?”

When Norman didn’t understand at once and asked again, Charlie shouted.

“The Hall of Fame! The first place has changed!”

“No way. First place belongs to Justin Walker, right?”

“No, he’s in second place now!”

“You must have seen wrong.”

“You said Justin Walker had 100 million points, right?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“I saw clearly that he had been pushed to second place.”

“How many points does first place have?”

“150 million points.”

“…What?”

Norman’s expression, which had been casual, turned serious.

“Charlie, I can’t use you if you’re lying about not being able to enter the dungeon. I can verify through other hunters.”

“It’s true. It wasn’t exactly 150 million points, but very close to it.”

“And second place is Justin Walker?”

“Yes.”

“So he has 100 million points, and there’s a 50 million point difference between first and second place?”

“That’s what I’m saying!”

“That’s nonsense!”

Norman denied it outright.

There had never been such a large gap between first and second place.

“Why don’t you believe me? It’s true!”

Charlie, who had checked multiple times himself because he couldn’t believe it, felt unjustly accused.

‘If what Charlie is saying is true…’

It means a hunter with genius-level talent surpassing Justin Walker, the world’s number one ranked hunter, has appeared.

“There was a genius in America who surpassed Justin? Heh…”

“It’s not America.”

“What?”

He had naturally assumed the new record came from America, the powerhouse of hunters.

“It’s not?”

“No. It was a country called Korea.”

“…”

Suddenly, Korea was mentioned.

“Korea? Famous for kimchi?”

“Yes. P-please believe me. It was definitely Korea!”

Seeing Norman’s expression full of disbelief, Charlie desperately insisted.

However, while Korea might be famous for kimchi, it’s not famous for hunters—even ordinary people know that.

“N-Norman. What’s with that expression? You still don’t believe me?”

“Enough. Wait a moment. There’s a sure way to find out.”

As he took out his phone, Charlie asked with an expression that seemed to say “You can’t be serious?”

“Wh-what are you doing?”

“I’m going to ask Justin Walker.”

“What?”

“Who would know better than the person directly involved whether they’ve lost their first place title or not.”

Justin Walker might already know.

After all, if he fell from first place, he would lose the experience bonus.

But what surprised Charlie was something else.

“Y-you can call Justin?”

Justin Walker might be in the same guild, but he’s a world-class star ranked number one.

Without being close, one couldn’t make such a casual call.

“D-don’t be surprised. I don’t have Justin Walker’s direct number either.”

“Huh? Then…”

“I’m calling his manager.”

Shortly after, Justin Walker’s manager answered the phone.

“Oh, James. Working hard, I see. I was wondering if I could speak with Justin Walker. There’s something I’d like to ask.”

-That would be difficult. Justin is in the middle of hunting right now.

“Ah, is that so? When will he be out?”

-It’ll be at least half a day before he comes out. What did you want to ask? If it’s okay, I can ask for you.

After hearing about the ranking change, the manager jumped up, saying it was nonsense.

Justin Walker’s record was like Mount Everest—unchanging even after 10 years.

But now, the mountain that was thought to be the highest in the world had been pushed to second place.

And by a small country called Korea, no less.

* * *

“B-block it!”

“Hold out as long as possible!”

The party members were in chaos due to monsters rushing in from both sides.

“Damn, of all times to be separated from the main force!”

The advance party had become isolated before even joining the main force.

They had fallen into a trap set by the monsters.

“Any chance to escape?”

“None!”

“No choice then. Hold out until the main force arrives!”

“They probably don’t even know we’re in this situation!”

The situation was desperate.

Even at a glance, the number of monsters exceeded 20, while their advance party was only five.

“If you don’t want to die, hold out! That’s our only way to survive!”

The party members gritted their teeth and endured.

As S-rank hunters, they deflected the monsters’ attacks while launching counterattacks.

But the monsters, being S-rank themselves, were not to be underestimated.

Swish-

“Urgh!”

“Winston!”

“I’m fine! Just a slight cut on my arm!”

It was hardly “slight” with flesh torn and bone exposed, but he couldn’t give up over such a wound.

“I’ll get treatment from the healer in the main force. For now, survival comes first!”

They were managing to reduce the number of monsters, but it was uncertain how long they could hold out.

At this rate, it would be their numbers that decreased, not the monsters’.

‘Just a little more. If we can hold out just a little longer…!’

That’s when it happened.

Kieeek!

Kaaaak!

Suddenly, the monsters screamed and were cut to pieces.

“The main force has arrived!”

“No! It’s just one person.”

“Justin! He’s here!”

Justin Walker, the leader of this party with a level of 4,300, had appeared at the perfect timing.

“So this is where everyone was?”

“Justin!”

“Just a moment. I’ll clean this up quickly.”

With Justin joining, the situation was rapidly resolved.

Kieeek-

Kraaak-

The monsters lost their lives one after another to his sword.

‘Th-this is Justin’s power!’

Just one person had entered, and the scales had tipped drastically.

“Whew.”

Having dealt with all the monsters, Justin finished the battle with a short exhale.

“Let’s go. The main force is waiting.”

“Yes!”

“Thank you, Justin!”

“I thought we were going to die!”

“Thanks to you, I can see my family again.”

The party members each expressed their gratitude, but Justin turned away without responding.

It might have seemed rude, but the party members didn’t mind such trivial matters.

They had just had their lives saved, after all.

Moreover, they were already deeply impressed by Justin’s power.

“As expected of Justin Walker.”

“No wonder he’s ranked number one.”

“So the rumors about him being weak despite his high level were just false?”

Though his personality seemed a bit cold and arrogant, being ranked first made it understandable.

Slash-

The party members from various countries couldn’t help but admire Justin’s power as he cut down monsters with an expressionless face.

“To think there could be such a difference between S-ranks.”

“When this conquest is over, I’ll tell my family that Justin Walker is a god of battle.”

The 14 S-rank hunters gathered from various countries had clearly realized through this conquest.

Justin Walker wasn’t ranked first just because of his high level.

That’s when it happened.

The change in Justin’s previously expressionless face occurred when:

[A new record has been registered in the Tower of Infinity Hall of Fame 1st place.]

[You have lost your 1st place in the Hall of Fame.]

[Achievement ‘Hall of Fame 1st Place!’ has been removed.]

[Experience increase has returned from 1.25 times to 1 time.]

‘What is this…’

Justin’s eyebrows twitched at the message that came like a bolt from the blue.

‘Is this saying a new first place has emerged?’

The Tower of Infinity, which he had challenged when he was at level 2,250.

After setting a new record of 100 million points there, he had been receiving the experience benefit until now.

But from this moment on, the benefit was gone.

Without being able to enter the Tower of Infinity again, he would never receive it again.

‘Fuck!’

“Justin. Is something wrong?”

“Your expression doesn’t look good…”

“Let’s just continue hunting.”

Revealing his discomfort, Justin dealt with the monsters more aggressively than usual.

‘Shit! The experience has decreased.’

Justin couldn’t hide his discomfort until they finished conquering the dungeon, due to the noticeably reduced experience.

“Justin!”

As soon as they exited the dungeon, James, his manager, came running.

“What is it?”

“I heard the news. The Tower of Infinity ranking has changed. Is it true?”

“…”

“You know, don’t you? If you’ve fallen from first place, the experience increase benefit would be gone.”

“It’s true.”

“R-really?”

“The achievement I received before is gone. Of course, the experience amplification too.”

“Oh my god!”

It wasn’t just the manager who was surprised.

The other hunters had ears too, after all.

“Is it true, Justin?”

“You lost the first place record in the Tower of Infinity to another hunter?”

“Holy shit!”

Justin didn’t respond to their words.

He just asked his surprised manager:

“Where did you hear this?”

“I heard it through a guild member a few hours ago. Our guild’s rookie entered the Tower of Infinity and saw the record.”

“Did that rookie take first place?”

“No. He couldn’t even clear the 60th floor.”

“So someone else surpassed me and took first place.”

“Yes. But second place is still impressive…”

“If it’s not first place, it’s meaningless, you know that.”

“…”

“How many points is the difference?”

“Ah, that…”

Manager James hesitated to speak.

He was worried about hurting Justin’s pride unnecessarily.

“The rookie might have seen wrong…”

“So how many points.”

“I heard it’s about 5-50 million difference…”

“…”

Justin was surprised, but the other hunters who heard this also found it hard to believe.

“50 million points? Is that really true?”

“So first place has 150 million points?”

“That’s impossible. Can a human accumulate that many points?”

“How many floors would they have had to climb to get that?”

“Climb what? They must have seen wrong! It’s hard enough to get 100 million points, where would such nonsense come from!”

While Justin, the person directly involved, remained quiet, those around him were making a fuss.

“James, which country did the first place come from? India? China?”

“Ah, I heard it was Korea.”

“Korea?”

When a completely unexpected country was mentioned, everyone’s reaction was one of bewilderment.

“Where is Korea?”

“You know, that country famous for kimchi.”

“K-POP is famous too.”

“But was Korea a hunter powerhouse?”

“I don’t know…?”

First place in the Hall of Fame coming from Korea.

While they were tilting their heads at this hardly believable news, only Justin smiled subtly.

‘Interesting. Of all places, Korea.’

Unlike the other hunters, Justin knew the country of Korea well.

After all, it was the country where he had entrusted his important asset, the legendary sword.

‘I wonder what happened to that sword?’

Curious, Justin extended his hand to James.

“James, phone.”

“Ah, yes.”

“I’ll be back after making a call.”

Having received the phone he had left behind to enter the dungeon, Justin made a call to somewhere.